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The Woods All Black

by Lee Mandelo

A nurse arrives in Appalachia to provide care and vaccinations. A hostile congregation threatens a young queer person while the surrounding woods seem to have their own will.

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When they call you a monster, show your teeth.

The Frontier Nursing Service is sending Leslie Bruin to Spar Creek to vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgement of those who see him as a failed woman. Hardened by the atrocities of the Western Front, Leslie thinks he can handle anything a backwoods Appalachian town throws at him. But Spar Creek holds a darkness he isn’t prepared for.

Something ugly is festering in the congregation. Violence bubbles around a younger queer person who won’t comply with the church’s demands on his body ― and the wooded hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own.

The Woods All Black is a blood-soaked horror story about prejudice and power that reminds us to fight tooth and claw to live as who we are.

First published: 2024
Publisher: Tordotcom
Pages: 160
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Book tags

Content warnings

No content warnings are recorded. Missing warnings do not mean the book is warning-free.

Horror profile

Scary: 3 out of 5
Creepy: 4 out of 5
Gore: 2 out of 5
Disturbing: 4 out of 5
Weird: 3 out of 5

How we calculate this

These are editorial estimates of intensity, informed by reading and review evidence, then checked before publication. They aren't star ratings, reader-vote averages or a measure of quality.

Each dimension runs from 1 (low) to 5 (exceptionally intense). A 5 is reserved for strongly consistent evidence. People experience horror differently.

Scary: Fear, tension and immediate threat.
Creepy: Unease, dread and an uncanny atmosphere.
Gore: Graphic injury, blood and bodily detail.
Disturbing: Upsetting ideas and lingering psychological impact.
Weird: Surreal, strange and reality-bending elements.

We draw a filled profile only when all five scores have been reviewed. Unrated does not mean mild. Missing scores are not estimated from genre tags or your saved taste. This profile isn't a complete content-warning guide.